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Mobile video is looking like the big story of 2013, writes Anna Bager. EMarketer predicts a 20% increase in mobile video-capable viewers to 73 million next year, and the Interactive Advertising Bureau Mobile Center's study shatters myths that mobile is used only randomly during the day. Instead, researchers found that usage builds steadily, peaking as a second-screen experience during TV prime time. While mobile devices are often thought of as personal tool, "almost every single consumer in our panel (92%) shared mobile video with others, and 49% shared video weekly or more frequently," Bager writes.

Related Summaries

Second-screen advertising works only for those consumers who have a first screen, or television, to watch. But advertisers can still tap mobile's potential with those who don't have one by making use of location-based videos. Instead of waiting for consumers to react to second-screen prompts on television, location-based screens approach consumers with powerful messages supported by mobile campaigns in such places as offices, gyms and stores.

Half of U.S. adults say they plan to make holiday-season purchases on their mobile devices, and 87% of respondents say mobile will factor into their shopping in some way, according to a survey by Sybase 365 and the Mobile Marketing Association. "The survey results indicate that consumers are ready and willing to use their mobile device not only to search brands but purchase as well. It is up to the industry to advance the mobile commerce experience and take advantage of this opportunity to engage more meaningfully with consumers," said Michael Becker, managing director of MMA, North America.

Mobile is "a behavior, not a technology," and brands should adjust their ad strategies accordingly, says IAB mobile evangelist Anna Bager. Embracing that outlook means tailoring mobile campaigns to specific consumer behaviors, rather than to the devices they're using to facilitate those behaviors. "It's about accessing content wherever you are. ... It's really the use that is mobile, not the device," Bager says.

Mobile gaming is taking off in a big way, and marketers should climb aboard, writes Anna Bager. Game-based campaigns let brands associate themselves with the emotional highs and lows experienced by players, making gaming a high-stakes marketing platform. "Distract a player, and you could be costing them a win. Work to improve their experience, and you become connected with the feeling of success," Bager writes.

Brands will be following up on their second-screen campaigns for this year's Super Bowl with new mobile appeals connected to the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. The length of the tournament and heavy involvement of younger viewers is likely to mean that Super Bowl records for second-screen engagement will be broken, according to Brunner's Shaun Quigley. The Internet Innovation Alliance says the tournament could produce 18 million hours of streaming video consumption.